can't get over the fact that male lead is tiny and that annoying mole
Yeah, but I think it fits his 'herbivore' role (being slight, not the annoying mole, haha). Although to be fair, Aragaki Yui is relatively tall (above average women's height in Japan) so it makes him look smaller whereas he really is not short at all by Japanese standards. I actually love how AY been cast in other dramas with dudes who are of similar height, like Nishikido Ryo in Zenkai Girl...kind of against the typical standard of beauty.
Well, you just saved me some time. Watched the first two eps on 2x and was bored/annoyed and wondering why all the gushing. I was just thinking maybe I should hang in there due to said gushing, but you've confirmed my suspicions that it's likely more appealing to a very young audience who wouldn't be annoyed by what's annoying to me or find the writing/acting pedestrian/shallow/not funny. Btw I always enjoy your reviews whenever I see them.
Ppl seemed a lot more down on this drama than I'd expected, and I guess that made me put it off. But I was pleasantly surprised...up till about ep.13, I thought the writing was smart, characters fun, and dialog hilarious. Sure, it might have been something awesome had SBS kept it as a 16 ep drama instead (it moves into something more generic from 14-on), but even then it was a really entertaining, feel-good watch. And if there was any connection with the writing style of My Love from the Star, I thought it was a positive thing (unless you hated that drama).
The pace, the humor, the intrigue all felt fresh and excellently directed for that first half. Loved the tongue-in-cheek fun poked at its own genre (which is standard these days but so often fails ironically) and the twist on stock characters that made them more entertaining (the mom and her employers especially). Plus, the script made good use of JJH's character having to learn the meanings of human words/ways and that kind of thing--there was some depth/feels to that. She was also so funny/charming in this role, and I thought her chemistry w/ LMH was pretty great.
I totally forgot it was 81 episodes...but that's shorter than a lot of these type saeguk, and I remember the time flying as it was so great. It's a classic for a good reason...you guys should give it a try!
No offense to anyone. I am just really curious. I had high expectation before starting this drama because of its…
I had high expectations too because of the gushy reviews and because the cast had quite a few actors I usually enjoy. I'm glad many people think this is awesome, but as far as all the j-dramas of this genre I've seen, this is a serious meh.
The idea is great, but aside from the interesting setting and a few of the relationship dynamics, the writing is really weak, and the characters, who had lots of potential, are never really developed. Oguri Shun does all he can to make his erratic character compelling, but even so most of them feel more and more flat as you go on, and the motivations aren't very believable. This is definitely the worst I've seen Aibu Saki, Ishihara Satomi, and Iura Arata, who are quite good actors, but didn't have much to work with. Other capable actors probably just brought in for their names had basically pointless roles. Seemed like a huge waste of talent to me.
You are spot on with your questions. I'll try to answer without spoilers (athough there are few surprises in the story!). The whole thing in the beginning with Natsui knowing Hyuga's mom and feeling guilty for not telling him has nothing interesting behind it and never pans out into anything remotely compelling plotwise or thematically as it could have. Her attraction for him from beginning to end is totally based on starry-eyed admiration, thinking he's cool/handsome and wanting to be the person to change him. The shift in her motivations has nothing to do with this being an Asian drama. Her character begins as an aimless university chick, and her self-esteem low, and so as she has a huge crush on Hyuga and also starts to feel needed by him, he becomes her first defining drive.
Hope this helps. You weren't missing anything, or misunderstanding anything; other people who gave it super high ratings just have different expectations/taste, so no need to apologize for not gushing about it! The drama was just weak writing, and all your questions point out many of the missing factors. For anyone else who is on the fence about this one, there are many other far better j-dramas of this genre--this should by no means be representative.
Why why why didn't I listen and just skip to 13? I only wasted about an hour skipping through those other episodes, but what the heck. Are the people gushing about this mainly high school kids? I'm thinking this must be the case, because perhaps if you believe in the romance, you might be okay with the endless scenes of sitting in cafes and living in the same perfect house, grilling meat, cutesy flirting, talking about nothing, and the endless looping conversations about the same now-flimsy plot points over and over. By the time I got to 13 I was like okay, the freaking ring, woo hoo. Now I'm at 14 and they've already gone and ruined everything I liked about the set up in episode 1. And I kind of want to strangle the lead chick for being so increasingly cutesily annoying. The romance was 100% not believable or charming and I question why the writer seems compelled to push some weird ideal to girls that it would be so romantic to be with a dude old enough to be their dad. Of course I can't make this comment elsewhere because I don't want to offend the people who feel this drama is the zenith of masterpiecely dramas. Or maybe I sound like a stodgy mom, but seriously, this writer represents all that is wrong with with the industry!! Anyway, thanks for your cautionary review.
Well sheesh. This is disappointing to hear but I guess I'm sadly not surprised. I was skeptical about the hype so I waited till it was over to try it out. The first episode was great enough that I for a moment started to get these serious expectations, like that maybe, just maybe they'll actually flesh out all these plot elements and possibilities and this will be a fantastically fresh and well-written fantasy! (I also assumed that since the lead actress is 25 and can pull off looking like a grown-up, no way will they leave her a high school student and surely we'll ffwd another 5 years later.)
But noooo suddenly I'm in episode 3 wondering if this is really happening as all the dead air started overwhelming my high hopes and I started ffwding through artless typical scenes where people flop on their beds flashing back to Special Moments and all kinds of weird meandering...peppered with intriguing promises that maybe those plot elements established in the first episode will actually be followed up on. I thought I'd look around for reviews to see if my fears were founded, if all the juice went to the first episode and maybe the end, with a dull desert of meandering and wasted potential in between because writers never want to really think through their stories anymore. All I saw here was gushing about it being the most fantastical drama everrrr so that I shouldn't be afraid to commit, but then your review made me all afraid again. If I plunge ahead, am I just dooming myself to being in a gobliny black mood as I suffer through all those middle episodes on double speed? Is it worth skipping ahead or just abandoning all hope???
the writer destroyed all the series greatness in the last episode
Is this anything like Time Between Dog and Wolf? I tried to watch it and found it incredibly underwhelming...it started out great but I gave up halfway through as I stopped caring about the characters and their relationships. Heard great things about this one though...although it sounds like there are very mixed opinions so now I'm on the fence.
I seem to be in the minority, but in spite of having wanted to watch this for a long time, I found it way cheesy and disappointing. I'm surprised to see all these comments about 'clever writing' when to me the weak writing ruined this. I know this was 2007, but the main trope was just too overdone and cheesy...the story was actually more engaging before all that overkill melodrama started. If you're not sure whether to check it out, I would just say don't expect anything like City Hunter story/romance-wise, and certainly don't expect anything like a smart spy thriller here.
I love Lee Joon Gi, but the writing made it hard to keep caring about many of the characters who were initially interesting once his 'change' happens, and it felt like a waste of some excellent actors. Nam Sang Mi's character was just so...flat/boring, aside from her relationships with her dads. She seemed weaker than she had to be...just the cliche fought-over woman. Was not a fan of her acting as she came off kind of annoying and petty, although she really wasn't given much to work with as her main role is being caught between men. The romance seemed shallow, only based on their childhood friendship, a cliche I usually like so long as the adult relationship makes sense and is believable, but it was hard to root for them at all. I stuck with it just to see how they worked things out, but the story just felt pointless by the middle.
So Shakespearean! Did not expect this to also be such a great black comedy, but after the first couple episodes I was cracking up constantly. That head detective has the best line: "Doitsumo koitsumo." (These people!!) You can't help but say it with every twist and turn. Too good!
Okay... This might sound like out of nowhere... Or the least concerned thing about this poll.... But, to me the…
Totally agree with both of you! Sad that 38 Task Force was so underrated... and SIG does have great comedic chemistry in his bromances...he and Oh Dae Hwan also from 38 Task Force were hilarious together in Shopping King Louis too...I actually dug their bromance more than w/ Yoon Sang Hyun!
I'm not sure what to make of this movie. A grown ass woman seeking revenge against children... I don't know it…
I guess the idea of revenge stories is going somewhere many people want to go but don't b/c of the repercussions...like where many parents whose kid is murdered or brutalized would go in their mind but not go through with...so there is some kind of catharsis in these stories where the angry dad goes after the rapist and destroys him or a mom goes after kids who will never be truly punished b/c they're minors etc...
Wow, based on the description this is going to veer pretty far from history...which probably is a good thing since…
Yes, it's amazing that she was really the female head! I was thinking more about the relationship with Naochika. But I am looking forward to this taiga!
The pace, the humor, the intrigue all felt fresh and excellently directed for that first half. Loved the tongue-in-cheek fun poked at its own genre (which is standard these days but so often fails ironically) and the twist on stock characters that made them more entertaining (the mom and her employers especially). Plus, the script made good use of JJH's character having to learn the meanings of human words/ways and that kind of thing--there was some depth/feels to that. She was also so funny/charming in this role, and I thought her chemistry w/ LMH was pretty great.
The idea is great, but aside from the interesting setting and a few of the relationship dynamics, the writing is really weak, and the characters, who had lots of potential, are never really developed. Oguri Shun does all he can to make his erratic character compelling, but even so most of them feel more and more flat as you go on, and the motivations aren't very believable. This is definitely the worst I've seen Aibu Saki, Ishihara Satomi, and Iura Arata, who are quite good actors, but didn't have much to work with. Other capable actors probably just brought in for their names had basically pointless roles. Seemed like a huge waste of talent to me.
You are spot on with your questions. I'll try to answer without spoilers (athough there are few surprises in the story!). The whole thing in the beginning with Natsui knowing Hyuga's mom and feeling guilty for not telling him has nothing interesting behind it and never pans out into anything remotely compelling plotwise or thematically as it could have. Her attraction for him from beginning to end is totally based on starry-eyed admiration, thinking he's cool/handsome and wanting to be the person to change him. The shift in her motivations has nothing to do with this being an Asian drama. Her character begins as an aimless university chick, and her self-esteem low, and so as she has a huge crush on Hyuga and also starts to feel needed by him, he becomes her first defining drive.
Hope this helps. You weren't missing anything, or misunderstanding anything; other people who gave it super high ratings just have different expectations/taste, so no need to apologize for not gushing about it! The drama was just weak writing, and all your questions point out many of the missing factors. For anyone else who is on the fence about this one, there are many other far better j-dramas of this genre--this should by no means be representative.
But noooo suddenly I'm in episode 3 wondering if this is really happening as all the dead air started overwhelming my high hopes and I started ffwding through artless typical scenes where people flop on their beds flashing back to Special Moments and all kinds of weird meandering...peppered with intriguing promises that maybe those plot elements established in the first episode will actually be followed up on. I thought I'd look around for reviews to see if my fears were founded, if all the juice went to the first episode and maybe the end, with a dull desert of meandering and wasted potential in between because writers never want to really think through their stories anymore. All I saw here was gushing about it being the most fantastical drama everrrr so that I shouldn't be afraid to commit, but then your review made me all afraid again. If I plunge ahead, am I just dooming myself to being in a gobliny black mood as I suffer through all those middle episodes on double speed? Is it worth skipping ahead or just abandoning all hope???
I love Lee Joon Gi, but the writing made it hard to keep caring about many of the characters who were initially interesting once his 'change' happens, and it felt like a waste of some excellent actors. Nam Sang Mi's character was just so...flat/boring, aside from her relationships with her dads. She seemed weaker than she had to be...just the cliche fought-over woman. Was not a fan of her acting as she came off kind of annoying and petty, although she really wasn't given much to work with as her main role is being caught between men. The romance seemed shallow, only based on their childhood friendship, a cliche I usually like so long as the adult relationship makes sense and is believable, but it was hard to root for them at all. I stuck with it just to see how they worked things out, but the story just felt pointless by the middle.